Kudos to Things That Matter for sharing a great info graphic that details what top talent looks like from a global perspective. A personality with drive is leading the stats! Take time to meditate on each quality listed and determine what you need to do to maintain or advance your valuable talent percentage. Challenge yourself daily to evolve in your professional development. You are worth it!

Are you reviewing your resume and know that you are missing a few great bullet points about your skills? At the same time, you are not exactly sure which merit worthy skills you are missing. Try the prewriting exercise of clustering to determine what additional skills or professional experience you forgot to originally list on your resume. Clustering can be an alternative to completing a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis that can help you determine where you need to expand your industry knowledge and your professional know how to advance your career.

A clustering exercise can be a leisurely activity that can be journaled at one of your favorite locations or your in your office on a whiteboard. Use colorful writing tools to categorize each segment of your resume. Segment options could be your professional summary key points, industry skills, interpersonal skills, or professional experience outcomes.

Best wishes to you for a productive clustering exercise that will result in bringing to mind success traits and accomplishments that employers will respect and find value in.

“Whatever you believe about yourself on the inside is what you will manifest on the outside.” ~ Unknown

The way you walk into a room can be an influential indicator of how you will carry yourself in a potential position. Be diligent in your efforts not to let nervousness or excitement for an interview be too profound that it effects the outcome of you being viewed as a qualified candidate for the desired position. It is important for you to walk and speak with confidence and make strong eye contact with everyone that you interact with during your interview process. Research the basics of body language before starting your career search. Learn or refresh your knowledge of how your body language relates to interviewing and daily interactions with people. Your increased awareness of body language can potentially become your gauge of how an interview is progressing. Your body language during an interview is equally important as your interview attire, interview dialogue, resume, social media presence, and follow up communication. Your body language preparation can be favorable in confirming that you will be viewed as qualified for your next desired career move.

Demonstrating healthy habits during your career search will help you look and feel your best, while taking time to de-stress frequently. Your focus of re-strategizing your career path through education, coaching, or through a company change needs constant healthy living refueling.

Your career search sustainability will thrive when you take care of your body, mind, and spirit. Your healthy living refueling routine should play out in your life daily through positive words, encouraging reads, promotable actions, detailed planning, clean eating, satisfying exercise, and sufficient rest. Get clever with your healthy habits. Review and research social media and periodicals. Consult with friends and family for yummy recipes and fun exercise routines that you will enjoy implementing into your lifestyle. Your health habits will bestow great energy that will be noticed during your career search activities.

There are a variety of ways that you can network for your next career promotion, industry contact, or new professional resource. You can attend an online networking event, a lunch chat, or an after hours networking event. You can also host your own networking event at your home, a local venue, or a restaurant. Invite respected professional peers, mentors, and industry influencers you would like to reconnect and connect with.

Get creative with planning your networking event. Your event should display a festive and upbeat theme with coordinating decor and edible treats that represents excellence. Develop an event schedule that is time sensitive and easy to administer with a smile. Take time to identify intriguing conversation starters and industry relevant current events and trends to candidly discuss. After your networking event, skip the email and send a handwritten thank you note. A hand written thank you can leave a notable lasting impression that can connect you to the career shift that you are seeking.

Repetition of your career search plan will be a constant requirement of you during your search. Take the time to determine each daily action item that you will commit to completing. At the start of your search, begin with small tasks and continue to larger tasks as your desired results develop and your confidence in your strategies increases.

The repetition of your career search plan is a great way to build and improve your time management skills, self-esteem, planning systems, and most importantly confirmation of your success mindset. Plan wisely. Your words and actions are framing your future daily. Remain focused and diligent on accomplishing your career goals. Make it a point to say your positive career affirmations as a part of your daily activities. Toss in stress busters that will help you deviate high emotions and tension that can be associated with you career search.

“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.” ~ Vince Lombardi

During your career search, keeping your industry skills current and relevant should be a constant and consistent focus throughout your search. It is important for you to practice your craft daily and not let excessive time pass to the point that your skills only read well on your resume. Take the time to ensure that your skills remain test ready through conversation or an assessment. Your ultimate goal is to get a return on your education and training investment that you are proud of and feel well compensated for. Keeping your skills sharp is a factor to being interview ready. The future of you career is worthy of your skills refresh time and can potentially lead you in successful salary negotiation if warranted.

Have fun and get creative with your practice and review sessions to keep your skills industry relevant and current.